A week at Muirfield Riding Therapy sees seven different sessions of different types, running from Tuesday to Saturday. The Tuesday and Wednesday morning sessions are made up of primary and secondary school children. We have a pool of around 15 schools in East Lothian who rotate in and out of four slots.
Some of the children may appear with different groups as they progress through their school years and others may just have one block of therapy with us depending on their conditions. We try to make a difference during any time they spend with us.
As well as the physical and emotional benefits of equine facilitated therapy, our schools sessions often feature and support the children’s classroom learning. For instance, counting; walk on for 5 steps, how many ponies have we in the Arena, if one goes out how many have we now? Colour recognition; put the red ball in the red bucket, matching flash cards; pick a card and say ‘Whoa!’ when you find the pair.
This sort of learning, in an equine environment, with their supportive teams of volunteers, can be less pressurised than answering questions in a classroom – some would say it is more fun! In our photo, participant Declan is having fun with our arena mirrors and his lovely volunteers. And let’s not forget the other important member of the team, therapy pony Harry!
